


it must be something that we call love

by emilia_kaisa



Series: Eurovision Song Challenge [6]
Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Belarus - Freeform, EurovisionSongChallenge, F/M, First Love, Fluff, Forever, Getting to Know Each Other, Light Angst, Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Alternating, Some Humor, two beans being awkward at first but you just wait
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-06
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:41:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22590388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emilia_kaisa/pseuds/emilia_kaisa
Summary: Suddenly Nate was more aware of her, and it was as if for some reason he was learning new things about her, news finding their way to him seemingly without his doing.They knew each other for a long time, since juniors, but they had never really talked properly, her looking a bit shy, with her rusty English and that scary coach watching her like a hawk.
Relationships: Nathan Chen/Evgenia Medvedeva
Series: Eurovision Song Challenge [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1619623
Comments: 12
Kudos: 31





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi yes I'm sailing this ship too.  
> This was supposed to be one shot but yeah not happening, I hope you'll enjoy!  
> Song nr 6: 'Forever' by Alekseev

From all the new people Nate met at school, Jerry was definitely one of his favorites. He was fun and loud, smarter than he looked and used a line 'I'm Irish' to explain everything he was doing. He also didn't care about any sport beside soccer-  _ it's football for fucks sake, Nate, you Americans I swear _ \- and didn't treat Nate any differently. Which wasn't such an obvious thing lately, and Nate was really grateful for someone treating him normally and not asking him questions about Olympics or future plans, but rather asking him for help with physics. 

And when Jerry finally showed some interest in skating, it was when he found some photo gallery online and started clicking through it, pestering Nate to tell him who was who from time to time. Nate was only half paying attention to that, busy with googling sources for his paper, when Jerry elbowed him, pointing at his laptop. 

"She's pretty. Looks dead tired tho." 

"Mhhh." Nate mumbled absently, still focused on his things, and Jerry sighed dramatically. 

"Can you tell me who's that?"

Nate winced and looked up, ready to share the information and go back to work. But when he raised his head and looked at the picture, something inside him flicked, sharp and odd. 

He had never seen that picture before. 

Pretty. Tired. 

"So?" 

"That's-" Nate cleared his throat "Her name's Evgenia. Medvedeva."

"Her smile is super cute!" Jerry decided and then looked at Nate, grinning "So, can I get her number?" 

It was a joke and Nate knew it, but for some reason he couldn't laugh, and he wondered why the hell he was feeling so off now. 

"Sorry, don't have it." he said and Jerry laughed as if he heard a joke and not the truth. 

It wasn't like some significant change happened, after that. But suddenly Nate was more aware of her, and it was as if for some reason he was finding out new things about her, news finding their way to him seemingly without his doing. 

They knew each other for a long time, since juniors, but they had never really talked properly, she looking a bit shy, her English rusty and that scary coach watching her like a hawk. 

_ Ex coach _ , Nate remembered, and his stomach churned. 

They had seen each other during summer shows, and he could tell that there was something new about her, the way she was laughing louder than before, looking more relaxed. 

He had noticed all of that, but didn’t really pay attention until that innocent comment Jerry made, and now Nate couldn’t stop his thoughts from running to her. Which was a bit odd, and confusing, and Nate didn’t get that at all. 

Being himself, he focused on his training and classes and so many things to do, and the first weeks of the season flew smoothly, and then suddenly he was packing for France, Jerry sitting on his bed with laptop in his hands and promising he would for sure watch him that time. 

“Look at my dedication, I’m downloading the schedule and all of that.” Jerry said dramatically and Nate snorted.

“Such a sacrifice, I’m so grateful.”

“The things I do for this friendship. Oh, wait, the pretty Russian will be there too, huh I guess I’m watching more than you then-”

“Uh?” Nate mumbled eloquently, freezing with one of his t-shirts in his hands, and Jerry grinned at him, as if he understood so much more than Nate.

* * *

Zhenya took a deep, calming breath and then exhaled slowly, feeling her heartbeat coming back to normal. She was a bit tired after the practice, still a bit jet- lagged and also kind of nervous. She wanted to do good, she really did, and some of her feelings must have been clear on her face, because Brian smiled at her reassuringly, patting her shoulder gently. “That was a good one. Go back to hotel and rest, I will stay with Jason for his practice.” 

“I will be okay.” she said, smiling back, and he nodded, clearly relieved. 

She appreciated it so much, how much warmth and attention she was getting, and sometimes she even felt a little bit awkward that he was occupying Brian so much, since he had also other students to take care of. 

She changed her clothes quickly, chatting a little with Maria who looked as tired as Zhenya was feeling, and then she left the locker room alone, slowly going towards the entrance and wondering if maybe she should take a walk instead of hopping into the bus, the hotel wasn’t that far away and maybe some air would do good-

“Hi!”

She stopped abruptly and raised her head, and gaped a little when she saw Nathan standing right in front of her, smiling at her and for some reason looking a bit awkward. 

“Hello.” she smiled back politely, faintly remembering that yeah, he was supposed to be here “You’re late.” she said without thinking and he blinked rapidly before laughing sheepishly.

“Uh, yeah, I think so.” he said, scratching his head, and didn’t make another move, and it was Zhenya’s turn to blink with confusion. 

Sure, they knew each other, but they weren’t really ones to talk, beside some short casual chit chats while passing each other in the corridors or during some show practice. But now for some reason Nathan Chen was standing in front of her, getting more and more late for his practice and looking at her as if he wanted to say something.

“I-”

“Yes?”

They looked at each other, and for some unknown reason Zhenya felt her neck and cheeks turning warm, why the hell was she blushing?

Nathan opened his mouth again, and closed it, running his hand through his hair, and Zhenya thought that his curls were really pretty.

Wait. What?

“Good luck, I have bus!” she yelled, much louder than needed, and basically run away, passing Nathan on her way to the exit, her steps much quicker than needed. 

She chose to walk back to the hotel, in the end. 

* * *

“Cheers!” Romain grinned, raising his glass and clicking it against Nate’s in a toast “Enjoy your drink while you can.”

“Ha ha.” Nate rolled his eyes before taking a small sip of wine. Romain was his best friend, but that teasing about not being old enough to drink was getting really repetitive. But now they were in Europe and Nate could have a glass of wine in a nice atmosphere, and it made him feel very cultured and grown up. 

It had been a good competition, with some bumps on the road, but Nate was happy with how it ended, and now, with all the skating and all the homework done, he could relax a little. 

“Hey, what about-” he started, but then he heard a bright laughter vibrating somewhere close to him and he froze, his heart doing a weird thing inside his chest, like a click and a flip at the same time.

“Huh?” Romain asked absently, occupied with something on his phone, and Nate ignored that, turning around slowly and trying not to seem as he was looking for something. 

She looked so pretty, in a simple black dress, laughing at something Jason just said, both of them careless and relaxed, and Nate’s throat went a little bit dry for a moment, and he had to take one more sip, bigger than he planned, and he coughed a little, almost choking. 

He kind of wanted to walk over, ask what they were talking about, chat about food. He wanted to ask Zhenya how she felt after moving, maybe compare notes about how to deal with homesickness. 

But he stayed at the same spot, only looking at her and wondering if there was a point, or if she even liked him, just a little bit. 

“Dude, hey, I’m talking to you.” Romain poked his shoulder, and when Nate turned to look at him, he saw his friend was looking at him suspiciously “Everything good?”

“Yeah, sorry.”

“Dreaming about math?” Romain joked and for a brief moment Nate considered asking him for advice- but for advice about what, exactly?

Nate had no idea. 

“I’m hungry.” he announced instead and Romain laughed, rolling his eyes.

“Of course you are. Let’s go feed that genius brain of yours.”

* * *

It was so nice, to have fun. 

Zhenya wasn’t thrilled with her results, but no one let her dwell over it too much. She had got hugs from Brian and Tracy, and warm words of encouragement, and then Jason wasn’t leaving her side even for a moment all through the gala and banquet, beaming and making sure that she wasn’t about to fall into some gloomy mood. 

So she laughed and danced, drank a little bit, and stayed up until her eyelids started feeling heavy and all she could think about was bed. 

“That’s it for me, guys.” she said, smiling at Jason and Stasya and Sasha who had been standing the closer to her “See you at breakfast, don’t drink too much!”

“Do you want me to walk you to your room?” Jason offered and she shook her head, standing on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek before waving at everyone and leaving the noisy room. 

She was feeling tired, just a little tipsy, and maybe also a tiny bit disappointed. But also, she was feeling calm. Free. 

“Uh, hold, please!” she flinched with her fingers hovering over one of the elevator keys as she watched with wide eyes how Nathan jumped into the elevator next to her, smiling at her with the same sheepish smile as before, and her stomach felt a bit weird for a moment.

“Thanks.” Nathan muttered before pressing the key with seven on it “So, um, how are you?”

“Good. Tired?” Zhenya said, for some reason feeling a bit shy “Congratulations on the win, you were great.”

“Thank you!” Nathan exclaimed, something like relief flashing in his eyes “Yeah, it was, hm, fun? Oh.” he frowned a little and Zhenya blinked slowly, feeling the same confusion as a few days before, during their random meeting at the rink.

“What?” she asked and Nathan made a weird gesture with his hand, moving a little closer, and Zhenya’s heart skipped a beat.

“Just- uh.” Nathan said eloquently, and Zhenya yelped when she felt a careful fingers on her hair, just for a second “You had this?” he said quickly, showing her a little piece of something shining, probably some decoration from the banquet, and Zhenya kept on staring at it, her cheeks flaming.

She had no idea what was going on, but the elevator suddenly felt really small, and there was not much air, and when a moment later it stopped at her floor, she left it quickly, with an awkward nod and a memory of Nathan’s dumbfounded expression burned in her brain. 

Feeling a bit like in some weird dream, she drank a glass of orange juice and went to take a long hot shower, in which she managed to convince herself that her brain was making something up. 

And then she got back to the room and saw that she had one message from an unknown sender. 

_ [hi, it’s Nate here, I got your number from Jason but I will totally delete it if you don’t want me have it, just wanted to apologize for being creepy in the elevator and getting touchy with your hair, hope you have a good night!] _

Zhenya blinked. Read the message again. Wondered how much Nathan had drunk, and how much she drank. 

And then, she smiled.

_ [it wasn’t creepy, thank you for saving my hair from the shiny things. And sorry for rushing away, I’m really tired.] _

She hit send, and then, before she could change her mind, she typed in another message.

_ [and you can keep this number] _

_ [goodnight] _

She got a moon emoji as an answer, and she smiled to herself. That was kind of weird, but also kind of cute, and for some reason, she felt excited that she probably was making a new friend now, something what she hadn’t been used to doing in the past, with her schedule packed and a pair of cold eyes watching her every move. 

Now, she was free to do whatever she pleased, and she was going to take advantage of that.

* * *

“Hellooo, I’m talking to you!” Jerry snapped his fingers right in front of Nate’s face “Jeez you’re glued to your phone even more than ever now that you got her number-”

“Shut up.” Nate murmured, tips of his ears heating up, and Jerry laughed, showing him on the shoulder.

“Sorry, sorry, I’m happy you got yourself a cute girlfriend.”

“She’s not my girlfriend.”

“Mhh.”

Things were different, since France. They kept on texting, some random messages every few days, and then she started sending him memes in Russian, translating them, and he would send her funny pictures made on campus. Nate wasn’t sure what it meant, but he knew that he enjoyed it, that ease that formed between them over texts and pictures. They weren’t really talking about anything deep, and they barely mentioned skating. 

“You like her tho.” Jerry said with a smug grin and Nate flinched, because that- that was a very complicated thing that he tried not to think about too much. He had so much on his head already, school and skating and more school, and the last thing he needed was to overcomplicate his already crazy life. 

“Lack of answer is an answer.” Jerry announce before grabbing a few nachos and munching on them while watching Nate with interest.

“Whatever.” Nate muttered, putting his phone away and reaching for a book instead “I’m busy.”

“Of course you are.” Jerry cackled “But if you ever want to go to Toronto and need a driver, hit me up.”

Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen.

Right?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is more humor than I intended but that's how we rolllll :p

Zhenya looked down at her phone and bit her lower lip, trying to stop herself from smiling too wide, because that could attract some people and they would maybe ask questions she wasn’t sure how to answer. Keeping her face straight, she typed back quickly and put the phone away, knowing very well that it would take much effort not to reach for it for the next few minutes.

Apparently her poker face wasn’t as good as she was thinking, because Jason glanced at her with sly grin from where he was stretching a few metres away.

“I see a suspicious smile.” he teased and Zhenya rolled her eyes, trying to play it cool.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.” she said and Jason scoffed dramatically, which made Katia giggle a little.

“Boyyyys.” she sang in Russian, and Zhenya couldn’t stop herself from giggling back, and Jason gasped at that, abandoning his exercises and moving towards Zhenya with the widest, most excited of smiles.

“Okay, what was that? I need to knoooow!” he complained, making his best puppy eyes, and it took all Zhenya’s power not to just give in. But what would she say, exactly?

“It was just some stupid meme, you wouldn’t get it, it’s in Russian.” she said “And you’re not old enough to see it.” she added when Katia pouted at her “Now let’s focus on stretching or Tracy will have our heads.”

“Fiine!” Jason sighed dramatically before moving back to his spot, sending Zhenya a look full of betrayal.

Zhenya wasn’t sure why she wasn’t so eager to share with everyone that she and Nate were texting. But then again, there was no particular reason to tell that anyone? It was just simple talking, nothing too deep, she was doing that with a bunch of people. Maybe it was because it was still kinda new, not going on for too long. But she had to admit that since France, there wasn’t a day without a message. It was easy and fun, to text with Nate, exchange meme and jokes, talk about food. They barely touched the subject of skating, though, which was a bit surprising at first, but Zhenya quickly grew to appreciate it. It was refreshing, so different from conversations she was used to have with others around her. Her friends and teammates were all lovely, but more often than not, the topic would come like a boomerang, and that was why Zhenya was enjoying her talks with Nate so much.

It was new, and warm and fun, and maybe she wanted to keep it to herself for a moment.

And it was cool to discover that a guy she had been seeing on competitions for years now but never had a chance to talk to, turned out to be one of the nicest, funniest people she knew.

“I see the smile again!” Jason yelled from his side of the room, his voice a bit whiny but full of fondness, and Zhenya waved at him before looking away and fighting an urge to reach for her phone again.

* * *

Nate was in trouble. He was in trouble, and the only person noticing that was Jerry, obviously, who was now watching him as if Nate was some interesting biological experiment.

“Dude.” he said, taking a sip of his cola “You’re in so much trouble.”

“Mhhh.” Nate mumbled, looking down at his phone, rereading the last message, the one he had received twenty minutes earlier, the one he couldn’t stop obsessing about.

“Hello!” Jerry snapped his fingers to catch Nate’s attention again “What are you going to do about it?”

“Uhhh, what am I supposed to do?” Nate muttered and Jerry sighed deeply, rubbing his forehead in an exasperated gesture.

“I feel a headache coming. It’s all your fault, where is the beer-”

“I don’t have any-”

“Of course, this country and its barbarian laws!” Jerry scoffed before taking out his phone and typing something rapidly, and that caught a bit of Nate’s interest.

“What are you doing?”

“Checking how long will it take to go to Toronto, obviously.”

Nate gulped and looked at the phone again, and something stirred in his stomach.

_[Zhenya] look at this pizza i will it it whole and cry from happiness_

_[Nate] omg it looks great! now im hungry!_

_[Zhenya] you’re welcome to come here and join me!_

_[Nate] haha it’s a date_

_[Zhenya] well I’m waiting then!_

And that simple line was the reason Nate felt like he was dying inside now, because yes, it could have been just friendly teasing, but also, it could have been a real invitation.

To be honest, Nate was about to lose it. Which was so not like him, because he was the chill one, the one who had game and no troubles with talking to people, with making things easy.

But with Zhenya, his brain and fingers were turning into a jelly, and he had no damn idea what to do.

He was brought to reality when he heard the sound of a can being opened, and he looked up to see Jerry chugging on his beer happily.

“Dude.”

“It’s not my fault, hopelessly smitten boys make me wanna drink-"

"I'm not smitten!" Nate exclaimed and Jerry gave him an unimpressed glance.

"Yeah, and I'm not Irish."

Nate gulped, and looked down, his heart making a flip when his gaze fell on Zhenya's name, a few letters burning into his brain.

Fuck.

So maybe, it was the truth, kind of. Maybe he was smitten, just a little bit.

_[Nate] Friday afternoon?_

_[Zhenya] waiting!_

* * *

"Woah, danger!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Zhenya yelped, waving at Jun apologetically after almost crashing into him. She skated closer to the wall and stopped, deciding that it was better to get a little break and get herself together.

And it was all because one seemingly harmless text exchange that now was occupying Zhenya's mind. She had been just joking with Nate, teasing him about food and suddenly they were... going to meet? Or maybe it was still joking, light and not meaningful at all, and on Friday he would send her a pic from some party or something?

In theory she could just ask him, 'hey are you serious?' but she was afraid it would be awkward, or maybe he would think... he would think... what was he thinking, anyway? What was Zhenya thinking?

She groaned, and hid her face in her hands, cursing herself for being so weird about it, she couldn't even understand it properly herself.

She liked Nate, and he liked her, obviously, but did he like her enough to drive 800km to eat a pizza with her?

"Zhenya, sweetheart!" Tracy called, waving at her, and Zhenya smiled sheepishly before skating closer to her coach "Something's wrong? You stopped in the middle out there-"

"I'm sorry, got a little-"

"You've been a little distracted today." Tracy hummed, keeping on her warm smile that now was turning a bit teasing "Maybe you're in love, huh?" she asked teasingly and Zhenya laughed, shaking her head.

"No, no! Just-" she stopped, narrowing her eyes, stomach churning, as if her body wasn't exactly agreeing with her words "Well, going back to work now!"

Seriously, that was enough. She had work to do, she wasn't going to distract herself with boys and their weird texts.

* * *

“What the fuck are we doing, let’s go back okay.” Nate muttered, feeling his stomach churning, probably from both nerves and hunger. 

“Oh no, not a chance.” Jerry snorted, taking a turn, gps happily announcing that they were five minutes from their destination “Time to call your lady and ask if she’s ready for the date, disaster boy-”

To be honest, Nate had no idea what he was doing, for the first time so confused. He was usually all about planning and schedules and having everything under control, and that… that situation was confusing him. 

Nate glanced at his phone, swallowing hard. hard before checking his instagram again; if believing Zhenya’s story, she was wrapping up her session for today and seemed to be excited about the weekend. Was she excited to see him too? Did she even think that he was coming to Toronto? Damn, he should have get that straight before coming here, establish if they were just joking or wanted to meet for real. 

“Ha, here we are!” Jerry exclaimed cheerfully, stopping the car, and Nate raised his head so quickly he almost knocked himself out “Now, get out of the car.” Jerry announced and Nate decided that nope, there was no way.

“Look, dude, I’m-”

“Oh for fuck’s sake!” Jerry grumbled, unfastening his seatbelt and leaving the car, only to go around and open Nate’s door, grabbing his sleeve and trying to drag him outside “Stop acting like a little bitch, at least say hi, you can pretend that you didn’t come here especially to-”

“Uh, excuse me? What’s going on?”

Nate froze, giving up any resistance when he heard a familiar voice, and Jerry grinned with triumph as he finally managed to pull him outside, and Nate almost fell on his face, very non gracefully.

“Uh, hi, hello!” he said, trying to save the last bits of his dignity as Jun stare at him with big, confused eyes “What’s up?”

“You’re… here? Uhm, wh- I mean- hello?” Jun was clearly stunned, but his smile was friendly.

“I’m-” Nate started, not really sure what to say, but then he didn’t need to, because there he saw her, exiting the building, wearing a big hat and with a bag hanging from her shoulder, and she looked pretty and happy, and wait, that person next to her was-

“Hey, Yuzu, Zhenya! Look!” Jun exclaimed with innocent enthusiasm, and then everything seemed to move into slow motion. Zhenya’s eyes shifted to him and she stopped abruptly, mouth falling open as she stared at him with such a mix of emotions Nate wasn’t sure what to make from this, and well, he was too busy trying to get his heartbeat back to normal. 

It took him a few awkward seconds of silence and Jerry’s not discreet cough to realize that Zhenya wasn’t the only person staring at him, because right next to her was Yuzuru, whose eyes now could cut glass. 

“So!” Jerry clapped, clearly determined to break that weird silence “Is it time for me to introduce myself?”

Nate laughed at that, feeling some of the pressure leaving his body, even though he still couldn’t wrap his mind around the situation, because well, it must have looked so weird for him to appear all of the sudden like that, and he just hoped Zhenya didn’t think he was creepy. 

She didn’t seem creeped out, though, still surprised, but he could clearly see her smile, full of disbelief and glee, and okay, maybe it was worth it to make that crazy trip. Nate cleared his throat, ready to bring his charm and say some joke to defuse the situation, but then he heard some car stopping near and something weird happened. Jun brightened up like a Christmas tree, Zhenya gasped, looking even more stunned than before, and Yuzuru looked like he was about to pass out. 

“Hey guys, missed me? Oh, hi Nate, that’s a surprise-”

Damn, and Nate thought that he had a surprise enter.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading, don't hesitate to tell me what you think!


End file.
